Chapter Seven: Delivering the Message
A/N: I am so terribly sorry that this update is so late! I caught a nasty case of writer's block and my teachers suddenly decided to go overboard on the homework. Sorry!
Thank you to Silver Sorceress, Quill of Minerva, bigkihap, ginger newts, ADandMMforever, miss mcGongale, foci, Jedi Knight Padme, mugglemin, and Palanfanaiel for your wonderful reviews! You guys are great.
And, of course, a very big thank you to my beta Flying Auk. I will try to add more physical description next time so you don't have to remind me every four lines. :-P
"NO!" Remus Lupin shouted, throwing himself down on the spot where Minerva McGonagall had just disappeared. "Dammit!" I tried to reach her…too slow. You weren't fast enough, Lupin. You weren't fast enough…again.
Remus looked down through blurry eyes at the bag he now clutched in his hand. The crinkled brown paper proclaimed Honeydukes in gold lettering. Minerva had dropped it just before she had been taken, and the look in her eyes had been unmistakable. I'm sorry. Remus knew that her message was not intended for him, but he quailed at the thought of delivering it.
A small fireball exploded just before him and Remus flinched automatically. "Fawkes?"The bird trilled a note of recognition and apology as it settled down lightly on the shattered stone tiles. "What is it?" Fawkes turned to offer Remus his bright tail and gave him a few notes of encouragement. Albus Dumbledore wanted a report. Immediately. With a soul-deep sigh, Remus put his wand in his pocket and clasping the bag tightly, reached out to touch Fawkes's tail. There was a flash of fire, and then they were gone.
Traveling by phoenix flight was by far the best mode of magical transportation, Remus decided. Unlike portkeys, your stomach didn't flip thrice over; unlike Floo powder, you didn't land on your face. It was just like Apparating—one moment you were there, and the next, you are here—but without the wrenching jerks and fear of splinching. Furthermore, Fawkes seemed to radiate a sense of warmth, comfort, and security that Remus desperately needed. The phoenix sang a bolstering note and Remus unconsciously straightened.
Albus was seated behind his desk, head bent wearily over a long budget report, jumbled stacks of parchment placed haphazardly around him. Remus could tell that his work had not held his attention in some time. Albus's hands moved restlessly across the paper, tracing nonsense designs across the miniscule numbers. The Headmaster looked up when Fawkes sang, his blue eyes dark and shadowed. "What happened?" Albus asked shortly, the exhaustion in his voice startling his visitor.
He doesn't know yet, Remus realized instantly, golden eyes wide in disbelief. Half a second later, he was struck by another terrifying revelation: I'll have to tell him.
"Remus?" Albus prompted.
Remus took a deep breath. "There was an attack in Hogsmeade today," he said dispassionately. Albus's face remained impassive. "We think that there were about a dozen Death Eaters, maybe more. About fifteen people were injured; eight were sent to St. Mungo's." Albus nodded grimly.
"Were any students injured?" the Headmaster asked.
Remus's face fell slightly, and Albus mirrored his reaction, reading his expression for what it was. "There was one," he acknowledged regretfully. "A Ravenclaw fourth-year, Mark Langdon. He was taken to the IC ward, but they expect a full recovery."
Albus shook his head sadly, suddenly appearing far older than his one hundred and fifty-five years. "And the Order?"
"No injuries, but…" Remus faltered and failed to meet Albus's eyes.
The Headmaster looked up sharply, blue eyes intense. "Remus?"
"Minerva was captured," Remus admitted finally, looking up at his ex-professor with an expression akin to dread.
Albus froze. "What did you say?" he asked carefully.
"They took Minerva," Remus replied quietly.
"How?" Albus's voice was soft, dangerously soft, and Remus suddenly wished that he had brought Tonks—or the entire Auror squad—with him.
"There were about six of them in the main square. Someone shot up the Dark Mark and the crowd panicked. We couldn't get through, and the Death Eaters were just firing off curses randomly to increase pandemonium. Minerva must have transformed, because suddenly she was in the center of the square, and we were not."
Remus ran a nervous hand through gray-streaked amber hair as he watched Albus's hands tighten around the roll of parchment he was holding. "There were four of them, and she fought anyway," he said, a hint of pride mixing with the incredulity in his voice. "Langdon was hit by a curse meant for her. I've never seen her so angry." Remus paused for a moment in reflection, the battle flashing through his mind in vivid color. "She was amazing, Albus. I've never seen anyone move so fast. It was just…incredible. And after taking four stunners in June—and at her age, too," he added in disbelief, missing Albus's pained expression. "She fired off curses that I'd never even heard of before."
Given time to reflect on the fight, Remus was becoming more and more impressed with his ex-professor's dueling skills. He had been her student for seven years and had never seen anything to indicate that kind of ability. Remus recalled a time when James had wondered idly who Professor Dumbledore practiced dueling against. I guess I know, now. Remus could almost feel his mind stretching as yet another of his childhood illusions about his professors was shattered. I wonder if Dumbledore—Dumbledore! Suddenly recalling the man in front of him awaiting his report, Remus continued hurriedly.
"Two of the Death Eaters she fought are in the IC. We captured two others, but the rest got away…with Minerva." Remus glanced up, finished with his narrative. Albus's hands were clenched into white-knuckled fists, the crumpled parchment beneath his fingers long forgotten. He had not moved once throughout the entire tale.
"Albus?" Remus asked hesitantly. "Are you all right?"
Something flashed in the Headmaster's eyes for a moment and then was gone. Albus rose slowly, his expression closed and distant. "Thank you for br—"
Suddenly the office door banged open and a disheveled Severus Snape ran in. "He's got Minerva!" the Potions Master exclaimed loudly. A slight flicker in the dark eyes was the only acknowledgement of Remus's presence. Albus's reaction to Severus's entrance, however, was vehement. Finally presented with someone as outwardly distraught as he was inwardly, Albus broke.
"Oh God, Minerva…"
"Albus!" Severus said sharply. Moving faster than Remus had ever seen, Severus ran past him and caught Albus just before the man collapsed. "She'll be fine. We'll get her back," he promised, easing the old man back into his chair with a gentleness that surprised Remus. "We'll make them pay," Severus swore vehemently.
Severus's intensity awoke something within Albus, but it was not the cognizance Remus hoped for. "Yes, we will," the Headmaster said softly, and Remus shivered.
Severus too, seemed slightly unnerved. All traces of the candy-loving, prank-appreciating Headmaster they had known were gone. Albus radiated a certain darkness that Remus had always associated with Severus. Even more so, however, Albus radiated danger in a way that Remus had seen only twice as a student. Albus Dumbledore was the most powerful wizard on the planet, and he was terrifying.
"Was there anything else, Remus?" Albus asked suddenly, his tone deceivingly even. The man's face was totally expressionless, as if all life had just been wiped from him. Remus blinked, startled by his sudden transformation.
"Uh, yeah," Remus stuttered, offering him the Honeydukes bag. "Minerva dropped this."
Albus took the bag slowly and reached inside. He drew out a small box in shiny, dark brown wrapping paper, read the label, and handed it wordlessly to Severus. The Potions Master looked at the little box in incomprehension, and then swallowed hard. Leaning forward awkwardly, Remus caught the words "For Severus—not to sweet for your disposition, I hope." Minerva had even drawn a little smiley face after it. Startled, Remus looked up to meet Severus's eyes, only to find the man's expression as closeted as ever—though there was a strange, menacing glitter in his eyes. Remus turned back to Albus immediately.
A large metal tin was next, the image of a ginger newt indented on the front clearly identifying its contents. Remus watched as a ghost of a smile flitted across Albus's face, only to be replaced by an expression of unparalleled anguish. It was such a private moment that he felt obligated to apologize for eavesdropping. The sheer idiocy of that thought struck him hard and he closed his mouth with a snap, causing the other two men to look up at him curiously.
"Nothing," Remus said shortly. The two men nodded, returning their attention to the paper bag.
Albus reached into the bag again and had to dig around the bottom before pulling out the last item: a small, dome-shaped package wrapped in blue-and-silver foil. "For my phoenix," he whispered, seemingly unaware of his avid audience. "You always rise from the ashes stronger than before." With trembling hands Albus carefully unwrapped the little package, taking in a sharp breath at the sight of his gift. Remus stepped forward to get a better look, puzzled when he saw only a single chocolate frog.
The Headmaster's hands were shaking so violently that he was forced to pause and take a deep breath before continuing to unwrap the chocolate. As soon as he pulled the golden string, the chocolate frog jumped out of the packaging and onto the desk, but Albus paid no mind as his treat leapt happily out the door. It was the card, Remus realized, that had his attention. "Albus Dumbledore," he read flatly, though he must have memorized the contents long ago. "Currently Headmaster of Hogwarts. Considered by many the greatest wizard of modern times—" Here, Albus let out a harsh, mocking laugh. "—Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel. Professor Dumbledore enjoys chamber music and tenpin bowling and…" Albus's hand tightened around the little card and Remus started. He had read Dumbledore's chocolate frog card a hundred times—there was no more information on the card. But Albus picked up his reading again, his voice suddenly hoarse. "…and weekends in France with his wife, who is hoping that he will accompany her there for her upcoming birthday," he finished softly. Even Remus's werewolf-enhanced ears strained to catch his last words, and he gasped as comprehension dawned.
"You're married?"
Albus looked up at him and Remus suddenly wished that he had not asked. "For the last fifty years," the Headmaster replied simply, before returning to stare at Minerva's—his wife's—last note. It was not their marriage that shocked Remus; after the "stunner incident," he had begun to question the apparent relationship between Hogwarts two most famous professors. No, it was something else entirely.
Albus Dumbledore's eyes had lost their sparkle.
A/N: According to HP Lexicon, Minerva's birthday is October 4; Albus's is not listed.
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